VIDEO: Bradenton man pops hood, finds snake on engine

BRADENTON, Fla. (WFLA) -- A Bradenton man recently thought he had car trouble, but when he popped the hood he got the slithering surprise of his life. And it was all caught on camera!

It began as any other day for the Walsh family. After breakfast, it was time to head out, run some errands and pick up the grandkids. But when the car wouldn't start, little did they know what was lurking on top of the engine.

The security video shows Thomas Walsh heading to his car thinking about the items on his to-do list last Friday. His wife, Diane, explains what happened next.

His wife, Diane, explains what happened next.

"He pushed the button trying to start it and it wouldn't start," she said.

He assumed the battery was dead, so Thomas got the jumper cables out of the garage.

"He came out and of course, he went in and pulled the latch to open the hood," Diane said.

Again, not expecting anything but a dead battery, Thomas walks back to the front of the car, puts his hands down to feel for the release latch and lifts the hood. And as you can see, Thomas literally leaps backward when reality sinks in.

Right there -- just feet away -- a ball python sat curled up on the top of his engine. That's when Devon Straight from Wildlife, Inc. was called in to help.

"By the time we arrived, it had slithered into the wheel well into a narrow metal space," Devon said. "I stuck my arm up into the wheel well trying to get ahold of anything I could. She starts hissing...she was starting to get agitated."

Despite all the drama in her driveway, Diane says this won't change her mind about snakes.

"I'm not afraid of them. I just don't want them in my car….as a grocery store companion!"

We also found out why the Walsh's car wouldn't start and the ball python had nothing to do with it. Thomas simply forgot the "fob" you need with you when starting a push button car.

As for the three-foot-long ball python, it was checked out at Wildlife, Inc. and is now in the care of a volunteer snake handler.